Aeroplane-stabilizer.



w. F. HBNSEL. ABROPLANE STABILIZEB. APPLICATION. FILED 11113.17.. 1912.

Patented Jan. 7, 1913.

2 SHEETB--EH KST 2.

M aux@ fanno To all 'whom it may conce-2in: l

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. HENsEL, 'a c itizen of the United States,residing'at- Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of LANE-'summum ft Specification of letters'Patent/v Application lleclA February t7,1912. Serial No. 678,163.

are connected to the forey and aft ends of the Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in 'Aeroplane-Stabilizers, .of whichthe following is a specification.

My lnvention relates to improvements in devices for establishing andpreserving the` equilibrium and stability of aeroplanes duringiight. s

` ne of the object-s ofmy invention is to provide a device, of thecharacter described,

which is automatic in operation when infiuencedby gravity alone, andwhich is protcted against extraneous influences such' ask air pressuredue to aircurrents. Another object ofmy `invention is to provide a.controlling device with means` for matically operating means, said'handoperating means being capable of operation independently 'of theautomatically operating `means.

vide afdevice of the charactendescribed that will permit/limited tiltingofthe plane or craft as a whole before the automatic gravity operatedmechanism is brought into action.

20- manual operat-ipn in addition to the aut-o- Another object of myinvention is to prol Other and fui-ther' objects'of my Iinven`tion-will'become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from' aconsideration of the following description taken in conjunc- 435tio'nwith thedrawings wherein, I1`igure 1 is a front-view of a typicalaeroplane with my device` attache thereto, showing it4 in ratherexaggerated" proportion to other'parts of the plane; Fig. 2 is a 40longitudinal and enlarged sectional view of :the -v controlling device;Fig. 3 is a transverse section takenonlines 3---3 of Fig: l; and Fig. 4is a transverse section taken, on lines 444 of Fig. 1.'f I n all theviews the same reference/characters are used to indicate similar rts.

In the exemplificat-ion of an aeroplane whichI have shown for thepurpose of disclosing my invention, 10 is the main plane 59 located atthe top of the machine and 11 1s a similar but shorter plane located.below thefm'ain plane and intermediate, the ends of .the two planes aretwo 'tilting planes 12 and 13, each plane lbeing centrally plvoted,

' to the upper plane 10. Ropes 16 and 17 .55 as at 14, yto a bracketstructure 15, secured.

Patented J an; 7. 191 3.

tilting plane 13 and other ropes ,18 and 19 are similarly connected tothe tilting planel 12. These ropes will be referred to hereafter whenthe operation of the device is specifically described. Other theaeroplane /are not of present interest and willl therefore not bespecifically' described.

- As illustrative of the operation of my device with a craft which Ihave exemplified I will state that if the st/arboard side of the craftas a whole, or of the plane 10 be depressed and the po v' side elevatedthen to bring the craft Ato an even keel, it would be necessary toelevate the fore end of thestarboard side tiltirigplane, when b thismeans the machine would imme `lately right itself or be btought to arhorizontal posit-ion. By elevatihg the fore ends of the tilting planes12 and \13 the craft as a whole will thereby be made to ascend, and bydepressing the fore ends of these planes' the craft will be caused todescend, so that by the` proper mani )ulation of t-h'e tilting planes 12and 13 t e machine orcraft may be brought to and maintained in a stateof safe equilibrium in a horizontal position of it-sy port and starboardside orwith reference to its fore and aft ends. In so far as myinvention is concerned other means than the tilting planes shown may beemployed for i producing this result. l

My 'nvention consists in the automatic and Ortions of manual.'motormeans for. either automati- I' cally or manually operating the planesfor bringing about this desired end, and has no lconnectionwhatever withthe particular ar'- ment of the craft employed to accomrani e plis thisresult.

The mechanism by which my invention is carried into effecty is shown inFigs. 2 and 3 wherein 20 is a'tube, preferably of rectangular formthroughout and closed at both entls. lVithin the tube is a ball 21,which maybe made of steel, lead, or other heavy material.

I The floor'of the tube, preferably slants from each end toward itslongitudinal center as at; 22 andl 23 solthat whenA the craft oraeroplane is on a perfectly even keel, either'fore and aft, or starboardand. port directioncthe ball will remain in the center of the tube,

and 'I/'preferably provide a de ression 60.` inthe center fof the tubein whic to receive. the ball so that it will require some materialslantingor tilting o'f the tube 20, .order n' operation of the-craftwill not cause the ball to shift unnecessarily within the tube.

lthe

It willbe observed that the ball, being protected by the closed tube 20,is perfectly shielded thereby from atmospheric influences and also fromthe effect of winds or extraneous air, thereby rendering the balleffective only by the influence of gravity. The tube 20 is mounted in ayframe composed of side members 24 and 25, the tube being freely pivotednear its center in the said frame on the trunnion 26, To one of.projecting ends o-f'the trunnion is attacfed a helm handle 27 for thepurpose of causing the ball 21 to roll toward one end or the othei` ofthe tube 20. 1

At a convenient place on the craft is located a power cylinder 28 havingavreciprocatable piston 29 mounted upon the rod 30. The rod 30 passesthrough stuffing boxes 31 and 32 so that it may be reciprocated freelythrough the opening of the cylinder 28 without leaking the pressurefluid by means ol. which the piston is moved within the cylir1- der. Tothe ends 33 and 34 of the rod 30 are connected ropes or wires 35 and 36.These wires or ropes are connected to the planes of the aeroplane, suchas 12 and 13, the movementl of which will change the course or positionof the craft.

A pipe 37 is connected to a source of fluid power supply such as a tankcontaining air or steam under pressure. It is also connected to pipes 38and 39 that communicate with the respective ends of the cylinder 28 bypipes 40 and 41. A valve 42 controls the admission of the motive fluidinto the pipes 38 and 39 and valves 43 and 44 control the admission ofthe motive fluid into each end of the cylinder 28. These also serve asmeans for controlling the exhaust of the motive fluid from the oipositeside ofthe piston when the motive uid under pressure is admitted intothe cylinder on the other side of the piston.-`

A rod 45 is guided in bearings 4G and 47 of the tube 20 and it may befreely moved therein, the bearings being slotted vertically in suchmanner as to permit considerable vertical displacement between therespective ends of the rod 45 and the tube k20, as in the act of tiltingthe tube. The tube is slotted at each end as at 48 and 49 for admissionof the bent ends 50 and 51 of the rod 45. These bent ends of the rod 45project into the tube 2O and lie in the path of the ball 21. An arm 52is connected to the valve proper 42 and in turn is connected by arm 53to the rod 45 so that when the rod 45 is reciprocated the valve 42.sopened or closed as the case may be. To the end of the arm 52 isconnected a spring 54 and to the other end of the rod 45 is connectedanother similar spring 55. These springs serve -to retain` the imd 45 inthe central position shown in' full' lilies in Fig. 2 in which positiethe valve 42 is closed shutting olf the admission of the motive fluid tothe pipes 38 and 39. The valves 43 and 44 are connected to the rod 45 bymeans of slotted arms 56 and 57 so that when the rod 45 is reciprocated.to one side or the other the respective valves are shifted so as toadmit the motive fluid under pressure, on one side of the piston whilethe other valve is shifted to such a posit-ion as t-o permit the fluidon the other side of the piston to be exhausted whereby. the piston 29may be driven from one end of the cylinder 28 to the other.

The operation of the device is as follows: So long as the tube 20remains in a substantially horizontal position the ball 21 Will belocated and'retained in a position near the center of the tube. `Shouldhowever the tube 20 be tilted` either by means of the tilting of thecraft upon'which it is located, or by means of the"handle 27, in amanual manner, the ball 21 Will immediately roll to the depressed end ofthe tube and striking the arm 50 or 51, as the case may be, will causeshifting of the valves 42, 43, and 44. Assuming that the tube be tiltedso that the end to the left is depressed the ball ivill move toward thearm y50 and its weight and momentum will cause the rod 45 to be moved tothe left thereby forcing the valve 42 to open position and permit-tingthe fluid under pressure to pass into the pipes 38 and 39. By thisoperation the valve 43 is opened so that fluid .under pressure ivillpass through the pipe 38 into the left hand side of the cylinder 28through valve t3 causing the piston 29 to be moved over to the right.and at the same time the valve 44 is opened so that air or gases Withinthe cylinder 28 and between the piston 29 and the fight hand end of thec vlinder will be exhausted through the pipe 41. The movement of thepiston 29 from its central position .vill cause the rod 30 to move in acorresponding direction thereb)7 deflecting the planes 12 and 13 of thecraft through the."

operation of the ropes 35 and 36 causing a change of direction. eitherby elevating the fore end of the craft and depressing the lower end orby raising either the starboard or port` side of the craft so that itWill be 4returned to a more horizontal and retained in a. more stableposition. When lthe craft is reaching its rest'red position the ball 21will roll down the incline 22 toward the central part of the tube andwill .thereby be slowly7 restored to its normal position'. The incline23 on the right hand side of the tube will prevent its momentum fromcarrying it too far to the right and striking the arm 51. rllheindent-ation 60 made in the tube near the center thereof will serve as ameans of retaining the ball in this position described in regard `to theleft hand end and the piston Q9 will be caused to more in an oppositedirection thereby warpn'ig, or d1stoi-ting or tilting. suitable planesin a desired manner for the purpose of changing the position of thecraft. It is evident if the tube Q0 is not disturbed. by means of thehandle 2T that when the craft has moved into'such a position that thetube .20 no longer occupies a horizontal position, the bally willautomatically be caused to approach one. end o1' the other of the tube2O that may be depressed and operate the valves and motor mechanism inthe 'manner heretofore described. and when the craft has by operation ofthe power mechanism righted itself the Iball will then be returned toits normally inoperative position located near' the' center ot the tube.

One of the especial features of my invention consists in the fact thatthe ball is entirely protected from extraneous infiacnces and the samemechanismv by which the course or position of the craft is changed iuauautomatic manner solely through'the etl'eet of gravity is a means bywhich it may be also similarly changed by manual operation.

.It will be evident that it is not essential that the pipes and valvesbe arranged precisely as I have shown in the drawings as an v,otherequivalent means of arrangement may be adopted without departing fromthe spirit of the appended. claims.

Having described my invention what I claim aud desire to secure byLetters Patent is: v

1. In a balancing means foran aeroplane having pivoted balancing planes,means automatically to operate said planes comprising two closedparallel tubes, a piston in the center of one of said tubes movable bypressure toward either end, a ball in the center oi the other tubemovable by gravity toward either end, a pipe leading to each end of thefirst said tube, an arm extending within both ends of the seco-nd saidtube, and a valvefor each said pipe, both valves having connection tosaid arm for operation thereby.

2. In a balancing means for an aeroplane having pivoted balancingplanes, a tube, a

piston therein having suitable connection with said planes, a singlepipe leading to each end of said tube, a valve in each pipe movable ltotwo positions one to connect the pipe to a source of pressure supply andthe other to open said pipe to the atmosphere, an arm connecting saldvalves, the ends of said arm being bent downwardly, a tube slotted nearf its ends to receive said bent ends of the arm, and a ball in saidslotted tube for abut-- ment against said bent ends of the arm.

3. In a balancing means for an aeroplane having pivoted balancingplanes, a tube, a

piston therein having suitable connection with said planes, a singlepipe leading to each end of said tube, avalve in each pipe movable totwo positions one to connect` the vpipe with a common supply pipe andthe other to open said pipe t'o the atmosphere, an arm connecting saidvalves for movement of one thereof to one'of its positions while theother valve is moved to the other position, a common supply pipe leadingto said valves, a valve in said supplypipe, connections between saidvalve in the supply pipe and said arm toclose said valve in the supplypipe when the arm-is in mid-position and to open said valve in thesupply pipe when the arm is in either position to operate the valves forsaid tube, laterally projecting end members for said arm, a tube'slotted to receive said projecting end members, and a ball in said tubeto abut against said end member and move said valve-operating armj asdescribed.

4l In a device of the character described, for application to anaeroplane having balancingplanes, pressure-responsive means to operatesaid planes, and means to control said pressure-responsive meanscomprising.

said ball upon greater tilting of the aeroplane rolling quickly alongsaid slanting surfaces after escape from said indentation. In testimonywhereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. HENSEL. In the presence of Y W. LINN ALLEN, MARY RAMEN.

